News Center

Gluten-Free Diet May Lift the 'Fog' of Celiac Patients, Study Says

THURSDAY, June 26, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- The "brain fog" experienced by many celiac disease patients seems to improve as their intestines heal after adopting a gluten-free diet, a small new study suggests.

Australian scientists found that banishing gluten -- a protein found in wheat, barley and rye that causes intestinal inflammation in those with celiac disease -- led to better scores in attention, memory and other brain functions over the course of a year.

Experts cautioned, however, that those without celiac disease who choose to go gluten-free -- a current diet trend -- can't expect clearer thinking to result. While more research is needed, they said, it appears that systemic inflammation common to celiac patients consuming gluten is to blame for subtle thinking problems, not gluten itself.

"Maintaining a gluten-free diet is essential not only for [celiac patients'] physical well-being, but for mental well-being also," said study author Dr. Greg Yelland, an adjunct senior lecturer in gastroenterology at Monash University in Clayton. "Given the extent of anecdotal data, we would have been surprised not to have found evidence of minor cognitive [brain] impairment in untreated celiac disease patients."

The study appears in the July issue of the journal Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics.

An inherited autoimmune disorder affecting about one in 133 Americans, celiac disease damages the small intestine and interferes with nutrient absorption when gluten is consumed. An estimated 83 percent of those with the disorder are either undiagnosed or misdiagnosed with another problem, according to the National Foundation for Celiac Awareness.

Yelland noted that the phenomenon of "brain fog" is also reported by chemotherapy patients, pregnant and breast-feeding women, and those with fibromyalgia.

"This study has shown that 'brain fog' does exist in untreated celiac disease," Yelland said. "The mechanism for the cognitive impairments associated with 'brain fog' are as yet unknown . . . [but] it would seem unlikely that it specifically involves the ingestion of gluten, but rather some underlying factor such as systemic inflammation."

Dr. Eamonn Quigley, medical director of Houston Methodist Hospital's Center for Digestive Disorders, called the new research "probably one of the best studies that has looked at impaired cognitive function in celiac disease."

He agreed with Yelland that patients with many health issues use the term to describe "just not being on top of their game."

"My interpretation [of the study results] is that whatever defect in the intestine is allowing this brain fog to develop is being resolved" by not eating gluten-containing foods, said Quigley, who wasn't involved in the research.

Dr. Peter Green, director of the Celiac Disease Center at Columbia University Medical Center in New York City, said research on gluten is still "nascent," with scientists only recently beginning to tease out its effects in those with and without celiac disease.

More information

The Celiac Disease Center at the University of Chicago offers more about celiac disease.